Kevin Grant meets with teenagers on probation at Verdese Carter Park in Oakland.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Kevin Grant meets with teenagers on probation at Verdese Carter...

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Oakland street outreach coordinator Kevin Grant (middle) meeting with his team of outreach workers at Oakland's Measure Y violence prevention office in Oakland. Grant has recently won the California Peace Prize for his work in trying to cut down the violence in Oakland neighborhoods.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Oakland street outreach coordinator Kevin Grant (middle) meeting...

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Oakland street outreach coordinator Kevin Grant meeting with teenagers on probation at the PAL clubhouse in Verdese Carter Park in Oakland. Grant has recently won the California Peace Prize for his work in trying to cut down the violence in Oakland neighborhoods.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Oakland street outreach coordinator Kevin Grant meeting with...

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Teiara Wortham talking with role model Denzell Shavers, 19 years old, at the PAL clubhouse in Verdese Carter Park Oakland. Denzell works with Kevin Grant who has recently won the California Peace Prize for his work in trying to cut down the violence in Oakland neighborhoods.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Teiara Wortham talking with role model Denzell Shavers, 19 years...

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Oakland street outreach coordinator Kevin Grant showing the number of Oakland homicides during a five month period of 2011 compared with 2012 in Oakland. Grant has recently won the California Peace Prize for his work in trying to cut down the violence in Oakland neighborhoods.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Oakland street outreach coordinator Kevin Grant showing the number...

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Oakland street outreach coordinator Kevin Grant meeting with teenagers on probation at Verdese Carter Park in Oakland. Grant has recently won the California Peace Prize for his work in trying to cut down the violence in Oakland neighborhoods.

Grant, an ex-convict with a long history on Oakland's streets, helped obtain court orders to release some of the gang leaders from jail, rounded up the others from the street and brought them all together in a room at Frank Ogawa Plaza.

"These were guys who hated each other," said Oakland police Capt. Ersie Joyner. "By the time Kevin was done with them, they were in tears, apologizing for things they had done to each other. It was a truce, and it never could have happened without Kevin."

Grant, who's in his early 50s, is no longer a career criminal. He's on the other side now, helping broker cease-fires between the city's most dangerous young men. He spends nearly every night in the city's most violent neighborhoods, trying to persuade young people to put down their guns.

He's been so successful that the California Wellness Foundation recently awarded him a California Peace Prize, given to individuals who work to combat violence in their communities.

'A tremendous impact'

The number of Oakland's homicides is up from last year, but city officials say the homicide rate would be even higher without Grant and his band of about 20 assistants roaming the streets.

"Kevin's had a tremendous impact in this city. All of us swear by him," said Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid. "I just wish we had 10 more Kevins."

Grant said he's honored by the accolades, but his day-to-day motivation is unchanged.

"If I was Bill Gates, and had unlimited money, I'd still be doing what I'm doing," he said recently at his office in Oakland. "I guess I'm selfish. I like hearing, 'Kevin, thank you.' I'll take hugs over money anytime."

Before Grant was a Peace Prize winner, he was not unlike the young men he talks to every night in Deep East and West Oakland. He was prone to fights and crime, rotating in and out of jail and not very hopeful about the future.

In 1989, he was released from federal prison after serving a long term for robberies, burglaries and drug sales. He returned home to his family in East Oakland. Through a federal employment program for parolees, he landed a gig notifying other parolees about job fairs.

One day, the speaker who was supposed to address job-seeking parolees failed to arrive, so Grant filled in.

"That was it for me. I've always had the ability to connect with people, and that's when I knew what I wanted to do," he said. "I fell in love with the job."

Staying independent

Grant started working with other ex-convicts, helping them find work and stay out of trouble, eventually landing consulting jobs with a dozen local law enforcement agencies on how to defuse potentially violent situations. He works for himself, but is currently under contract with Oakland's Measure Y antiviolence campaign. While he works with police, he's careful to remain independent. He never shares information or collaborates on operations, he and police said. His role is strictly as a peace broker.

In most cases, what he buys is time. Many disputes can be settled safely if a few days pass and tempers cool, he said.

In one case, a young man was close to shooting his childhood friend because the friend sold him cracked tire rims.

Grant arranged for the men to meet in a few days to resolve the issue. By the time the meeting date arrived, they had calmed somewhat and Grant, with his easy smile and non-judgmental demeanor, was able to spur them into reaching a compromise. The friend apologized for the cracked rims, and Grant offered $80 from the Measure Y fund to repay the buyer.

"These youngsters don't want to die, they really don't," Grant said. "You ask them, who wants out? They all do. It's just so deep, it's hard for them to see another way."

Grant and his crew can resolve disputes about 75 percent of the time, he said. The rest are beyond help.

Guns a big problem

The crux of Oakland's violent crime rate, which is among the highest in the state, according to FBI statistics, is easy access to cheap guns, he said. Criminals can obtain assault rifles for a few hundred dollars, and in neighborhoods already plagued with poverty, unemployment and general hopelessness, guns provide quick answers to usually trivial problems, he said.

The result is an endless cycle of retaliation, he said.

The seeming futility of his job sometimes wears on him, Grant said.

He often has nightmares about tennis shoes running down an alley, with no feet attached.

"When they put the tarp over a dead body, sometimes the feet stick out and all you see are tennis shoes," he said. "The mothers know it's their son when they recognize the shoes. It's awful."

Family's crucial role

Grant credits his family with helping him, both now and when he was released from prison. His father, a tool-and-die maker, and his mother, a homemaker, were married 57 years and were regular churchgoers. His family remains very close, he said.

Grant remains hopeful about his city.

"I believe in Oakland with all my heart," he said. "These kids aren't bad. They just have behavior that needs to be corrected. Violence is never going to end, but I think when youngsters see a way out, things will start to calm down. I know we'll get there."